The Masks That Wear Us
by Princess Uchiha.0223
Summary: You can only wear a mask for so long before it slips. For Sasuke, Naruto is the crack in his mask.
1. Chapter 1

We wear a thousand masks, a thousand faces, none of them real. They're just our façade to be the person everyone wants us to be. The true one is embedded deep within our souls. Unarmed. Vulnerable.

I watch as people walk by me. All of them are wearing their masks, and it is pathetic, even though I know I do the same thing. I don't understand them, and I don't want to. I am different, an outcast in their little fantasy.

The war is over. Konoha is once again the place I call my residence – not my home, never my home; _my home_ is not four walls, it's a _heartbeat_ – and I've been reinstated as a Leaf Shinobi. In other words, life seems to have come back to normal. Except…

"Sasuke!"

 _That_ voice. The one person I always want to run into, yet hope that I don't have to face. I halt. Making sure my mask is in place, I turn around.

I take a deep breath. "Naruto. What is it?"

He grins, smile reaching his ears, a twinkle in his eyes. "I have news!"

"Yes I already know they're going to make you Hokage; that's not news," I say dismissively.

"Not that!" he says, "It's…something else!"

He is sunshine and liquid gold, and I know I cannot live without him by my side.

"So what is it, loser? I'm busy, I don't have all day."

He lets out a small huff. "Yeah, yeah I get it. But – " the smirk returns to his face. "You won't be too busy on my _wedding day_ , right?"

I feel my breath catch in my throat. _Wedding._

I feel myself free-falling into an obsidian abyss. Dammit, _no_. I cannot let the mask slip.

"Hn."

Naruto scowls. "Bastard, at least congratulate me or something. It's not every day your best friend gets married!" His grin is back in place. "So Hinata and I decided that it's going to be a small thing – just close friends and family, in honor of Neji. Sakura and Ino have put themselves in charge of handling everything, and you should just see those two trying to…."

I tune his voice out. Wedding. Hinata. So he is leaving me alone after all. He won't be _my_ Naruto anymore. I want to grab him by his shoulders and shake him till he sees what's been in front of his eyes all along. I want to slam him into a wall, pin him with my body, and ravage him. I want to shout into his very soul that he is _mine_ , mine and nobody else's…but my voice, it never comes.

Itachi suddenly pops into my mind, and I feel that whirlpool of pain I have buried somewhere deep inside me threaten to rise to the surface. _Why am I always the one to be left behind?_

"Huh, Sasuke, did you say something? I didn't quite catch that."

I swallow the bitterness back, struggling to keep my mask from falling off. "When's the wedding?"

That ear-splitting grin latches itself onto his face again. "Next month," he says. "Can you believe it – just a month and I'll…" his grin slips a bit, features taking on a more somber expression. He looks down at the ground, contemplating something.

I bite down on my lower lip, wishing things had gone differently. I want everything to go back to when it was just him and me. When _I_ used to be the center of his world. So maybe I was a little selfish to always want him chasing after me, but isn't that what people do when they don't want to let go of someone they love?

"Naruto."

He looks up at me, blue eyes filled with an emotion I cannot place. "Sasuke, I…"

I ball my right hand into a fist, nails digging into skin. "I have to get going; my genin are waiting for me, and I really don't like being late."

He nods, eyes still not leaving mine. It's almost as if he's…searching for…

 _No._

"Congratulate Hinata on my behalf, Naruto."

I turn around and start walking before I break in front of him. _Keep on walking. Don't turn around._

"Congratulate Hinata? You never even congratulated me, bastard!" he shouts cheekily from behind, but I never return it. I keep walking through the streets of Konoha and into the woods till my knees finally give in.

I let my mask fall to the ground, where it shatters into a million pieces. _Uchiha men don't cry_ , I tell myself, but somehow, I am powerless against the wracking sobs that heave through me.

We wear a thousand masks, hiding ourselves in them. Our masks are testaments to the fact that underneath it all, we're just a bunch of vulnerable humans that are capable of feeling the kind of pain that threatens to destroy our very existence. Our masks shield not just our own selves from pain, but others too. Because at times, we have to be strong, not for ourselves, but for others.

It's just nature's way of protecting its young.

 _ **It's my way of protecting him.**_

* * *

 _ **A.N:**_ Okay so I have a lot of ideas regarding where I could take this if I turned it into a chaptered fic, but I don't know for sure if I'm gonna go ahead and do that, or just leave it as a one-shot. What do you guys think? ^^


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** So I decided to continue this after all! Just couldn't bear to leave my poor Sasuke that sad and broken. Of course, there's no cheerful resolution in this chapter itself, but it will come soon enough! For the time being, read on!

* * *

"But Sasuke Sensei, I'm tired of catching these damn cats every – "

"Cat, singular. It's the same – "

"Whatever! I'm sick to death of these C-rank missions! I want to go on a real mission! Please, Sasuke Sensei?"

I heave a sigh, the scene unfolding in front of me reminding me of a similar one from my own genin days. I decide not to share that piece of information with them. I turn to the third member of my team, who is seemingly above his teammates' petty squabbles, and is leaning stand-offishly against a tree, waiting for me to dismiss them.

"Akihiko, I'll leave these two to you then."

He nods, turning towards his teammates with a newfound authority, as the expressions on the others' faces turn sour.

The sun is setting in the distance, bathing the earth in hues of crimson and gold.

"Six A.M tomorrow, all of you."

I turn around and begin walking back towards the village. I hear the voices of Akihiko and the two other genin – Hikari and Sora –floating across the wind. As I pick up speed, they gradually fade away into nothingness.

It has been two days since I met Naruto, and I am in no hurry to meet him anytime soon again. This deluge of feelings within me, all of them related to _him_ …I don't want any part of it. As long as I don't dwell too much on it, I will be okay.

I know he will be married to Hinata in a month. Living together, having kids, maybe. As much as I have no particular affinity for kids, a sudden image of Naruto and me and a _kid_ pops into my head.

So maybe my technique of simply trying not to dwell on this isn't really working. I decide I need a better distraction, and alter my course for the winery.

It has been months since I've come back to Konoha, but the people on the streets still stare at me like I am an outcast. The way they used to stare at Naruto when he was a kid. It's ironical, how our positions have now been reversed. Except unlike him, I don't really care for either them, or their approval. They're all a bunch of hypocrites, and I can't bring myself to feel anything other than indifference for them. To me, the whole of Konoha is _one person_ , and one person only.

"Sasuke-kun!"

I snap myself out of my thoughts. "Oh, Sakura, hello."

She falls in step beside me, smiling warmly, "Done training your team for the day?"

I nod, not particularly in the mood to make small talk with her.

"They can be quite a handful, can't they? I don't have a team of my own, but Ino does, and I go with them once in a while, and goodness, were we that bad when we were young?"

I shrug noncommittally. "You weren't."

"Neither were you, but Naruto – oh! He's told you about the wedding, hasn't he?"

I feel my stomach drop hearing 'Naruto' and 'wedding' in the same sentence. "Hn."

"It's so great, isn't it? He really deserves to be happy, after…everything he's gone through."

I know she doesn't mean any harm, but I can still hear the silent accusation in her voice. Or maybe I am just imagining it. Either way, I feel like I have had enough of this conversation.

"Excuse me, Sakura, I'm heading to the winery. See you later, then."

Not waiting to hear her response, I turn and cross the street. I make my purchases double quick, not wanting to run into her again, and begin heading home.

The Uchiha district was never rebuilt after the Pain massacre, and if I'm being honest, I am not half sorry about that decision. I know the whole razzle-dazzle that people give me about _memories_ and _attachments_ whenever I am talking to someone and that subject comes up, but I seriously can't bring myself to care less. Yes, it was my childhood home. Yes, I lived happily with my family there for quite a period of time, but after everything that has happened over the past five years, I really don't have it in me to cling to materialistic pleasures anymore.

I didn't come back to Konoha hoping to live in my childhood home again. I came for…

"Naruto?!"

I can't mask the surprise that seeps into my voice. He is sitting on the floor outside my apartment, leaning back against the door, eyes closed. At the sound of my voice he lazily opens them.

"About time you showed up, teme."

"What are you doing here? Last I checked, this was my apartment."

He stands up, eyeing the sake in my hand. I wait for him to make a comment, but he just silently stands there. Waiting.

I set the sake bottles down as I reach for the keys from the pocket of my waistcoat, and it suddenly hits me that he is waiting to be let in.

I unlock the door, and he walks in like he owns the place, and subsequently sprawls out on the couch.

I don't know what to say, so I don't, instead walking to the kitchen and setting the bottles down on the counter.

 _So much for getting drunk and passing out._

I return to the living room and walk up to the couch, before realizing that there is no room for me to sit there. Naruto has stretched himself out over the _entire_ thing, and I find my gaze begin to shift from his face towards his body before I quickly collect myself.

"So?"

He shrugs, sitting up. I realize that gesture means that he is inviting me to sit down beside him, but I don't really think I can do that, so I keep standing.

"Naruto, why were you waiting outside my apartment?"

"I was obviously waiting for you, Sasuke, isn't that – "

"Naruto. Why?"

"You're so irritating, teme. I came because I felt like it. I had nothing to do tonight anyway."

"What about Hinata?" The question tumbles out of mouth before I am able to stop myself.

He raises an eyebrow. "Hinata? Why would I be with her? She's busy doing her own – Sasuke, why the fuck are you still standing?"

 _Caught._

"I'm going to the bathroom. Please don't set anything on fire while I'm gone."

I see his face start to form into a scowl as I turn around, and I can't help the little smile that eases itself onto my face.

As I exit the bathroom ten minutes later, he is sprawled out on my _bed_. I can only assume he followed me to the bathroom and decided to wait outside for me.

"Teme, are you expecting someone tonight?"

Once again, he has taken over the entire bed – it's not a very big one, since I never bring anyone over – and I feel a tinge of exasperation at the way all the furniture in my house is being snatched away from me.

He probably realizes this, and sits up, gesturing for me to sit down. I sit down gingerly – on my _own_ bed – and lean back against the wall, maintaining a safe distance from him.

Over the years I have always liked to live in a personal space bubble of my own – avoiding physical contact with anyone as much as I can – but tonight, that is not the only reason I feel like I need to maintain my distance from the person sitting beside me.

 _Not_ _ **mine**_ _anymore, not mine –_

I realize he has asked me a question. "No, Naruto. I am allowed to drink by myself, I think."

He scowls at me. "Why do you always have to be so grouchy? Jeez, you really gotta get laid, Sasuke."

I feel my breath catch in my throat as I try to shrug as nonchalantly as I can. "Have you gotten laid, then?"

He smirks. "Not yet, but this one, time, Hinata – "

"Do you want to get drunk?" I cut him off before he slips any images into my head that I am better off without.

"Huh? Sasuke, what – "

"I was planning on getting smashed and passing out tonight, and since you're here – " I suddenly realize this is not a very good idea, and that I need to backpedal. Fast. "I mean, if you have time on your hands, which you probably don't, so – "

"Naah, I told ya I'm not doing anything tonight! Let's get smashed!"

He looks too happy for me to bring up some excuse to throw him out, so I decide it will be fine.

I still have my mask on. Primed. In place. What could go wrong?


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:**_ So I realized that each chapter of this fic is getting progressively longer than the last one, haha. Well, anyway.

Also, I haven't really written a lot of fics from a first person POV, but as I am going ahead with this, I'm having quite a lot of fun writing Sasuke. Hope I'm doing an acceptable job? ^^

* * *

I have never been too much of a drinker. A few drinks here and there, once in a while. I remember unabashedly drowning myself in liquor just once in my life – the day after I came to know what Itachi had been hiding under his mask for all those years. The one and only time I had been smashed enough to forget my own name. Just that one time, and never again.

I bring out two cups – I only have two cups, the other being the spare in case I break one – and the sake, and set them down on the table in front of the couch. Naruto pads out of the bedroom, and takes up a corner of the couch, being gracious enough to give me my own space this time.

As I sit down, I realize that in all these years I've known him, I've never had a drink with Naruto before.

He pours out the sake into our cups. "Cheers, Sasuke."

There is a mile-wide grin on his face, and I feel a sudden pang of pain as I realize that I'll have to give away my little ball of sunshine soon.

 _Was he ever mine to begin with?_

I manage a half-smile and raise the glass a little before gulping it down in one shot, the liquid stinging my throat as it goes down.

Naruto is peering at me with a curious look on his face, and I can't help the annoyed "What?" that leaves my lips.

He shakes his head and turns to pour himself another cup. His eyes are fixed on his glass when he asks me, "Sasuke, why don't you get married to Sakura?"

"Why, so you can have a double wedding?" It comes out harsher than I intended it to be.

Naruto doesn't even wince, and turns his face so he can look at me. The grin is gone, and he has a somber expression on his face. "She really loves you, you know. Even after everything you did to her. To us. She never stopped loving you, Sasuke."

I don't understand where this is coming from. "As I have said to her quite a few times before, I have no interest in being romantically involved with her. Or anyone else for that matter."

Naruto leans back against the couch, stretching out his left hand to put it behind his head. "So you never plan to get married?"

I mull over that question for a few seconds, pouring myself my third cup. All my life I have been used to females of all ages fawning over me, but I have never felt any attraction towards any of them. Even Karin – the only woman I shared extremely close quarters with for an extended period of time – had held no special appeal for me. If I was being honest, I was so caught up in hate and pursuit and _revenge_ that these things simply meant nothing to me.

I must have been silent for too long, because Naruto lifts a leg up and prods my thigh with his toe. I jerk at the contact, shifting away a bit so his foot is not touching me anymore. "Marriage…is not really my thing. I'm good, I think."

Naruto now turns sideways, lifting his other leg up so he is facing me, toes inches away from my thigh. He leans back on the armrest of the couch, steady gaze leveled at me. He smiles a little.

"Did you know Shikamaru's getting married soon too?"

This whole discussion about marriage is beginning to annoy me a little now. Who the _fuck_ cared who was marrying whom.

"Dobe. You know me well enough by now to know that I wouldn't care even if the single men and women in Konoha _all_ got married on the same day."

"What if I tell you Kakashi Sensei's getting hitched to Captain Yamato?"

It takes me a second to place the name Yamato, and then I raise an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.

He breaks out into a laugh. "I'm only kidding, teme, but see, you do care!"

I frown. "Not really, you just took me by surprise, that's all."

The smile sticks to his face, and it's clear he's a little tipsy. I feel somewhat buzzed myself, and the words tumble out of my mouth very uncharacteristically. "Why're you marrying Hinata?"

He looks a little surprised. "Because…she's been there for me from day one. She's always had my back, and she would…I don't know…do anything for me." He has been looking straight at me all this while, but now he looks away. "She is the kind of girl my mother would want me to marry."

His feet are touching my thigh now, but I don't really feel like moving away. My gaze is fixed on his face.

"I mean, that's what people do isn't it?" he continues, still looking away. "Find someone you like and then get married to them?"

I can't stop the bitter laugh that escapes me. "Not everyone has it that easy, Naruto."

As he turns his head back towards me, I realize that that sentence might have given away a little more than I intended it to, but strangely, I don't feel like making any excuses for it.

I can see the confusion on his face. "What does that…?"

I shake my head and the whole room swims in front of my eyes. I shut them quickly, welcoming the steadying feeling that accompanies it.

"Sasuke."

"Hn."

I can feel him tuck his legs beneath him and shift closer to me, so that he is now sitting cross-legged on the couch, facing me. I feel my space bubble being violated, but I have nowhere else to move, so I stay where I am.

We sit in silence for a while, and the urge to know what he is doing keeps gnawing at me till I finally force myself to open my eyes.

Naruto is staring at his cup with a glazed look in his eyes, and I can't say if that's because of the alcohol, or something else.

 _Who knew he was such a quiet drunk?_

I can't help the smirk that forms on my lips, and that draws his attention. He immediately scowls at me. "What's so funny, teme?"

"Nothing," I say.

I have thankfully set down my cup a few seconds ago, so I almost reflexively block the punch he throws straight at my head. It's his bandaged arm – his prosthetic one. With his hand in my grip, I find myself absently running my fingers over his bandaged ones, feeling the coarse texture beneath my skin.

He doesn't remove his hand, so I don't remove my grip either. I bring our hands down to rest on the couch below, my splayed fingers enveloping his fist.

The air is heavy, laden with something I cannot name. I know I would never have in a million years done what I am doing if I was sober, and for once, I am glad I am already quite drunk. I can see him staring at our hands before he brings his gaze up to look into my eyes.

"You should have gotten one for yourself, too," he says, gesturing first to my empty left sleeve, then to his own bandaged arm. "Tsunade baa-chan really outdid herself with this."

I shrug. "You know why I didn't take her up on that offer, Naruto. And anyway, I bet I can still beat you single-handedly, _literally_."

"Like hell you can, teme. You remember our last fight, don't you?"

Even drunk, it doesn't take much to rile up Naruto.

"As I recall, we _both_ lost an arm each," I say.

Something in the air shifts. Naruto puts down the cup he is holding in his other hand and places it on my left shoulder. I freeze, but don't shake his arm off.

He looks sad. Almost pensive. I hate seeing this look on Naruto's face. I know I have put this look on his face countless times over the past, which is _exactly_ why I don't want a replacement for the arm I lost in a battle that _I_ began with him. It's my penance. My atonement.

I don't deserve a prosthetic arm.

 _I don't deserve him._

Naruto slowly runs his hand down the stump which is all that remains of my left arm, stopping before he feels only fabric beneath his hands.

All the while, I hold my breath.

"Sasuke, I'm…sorry."

"W-what?"

He shifts a little more towards me, so his knees are touching my thigh now, our joined hands resting on his lap.

"I got myself a new arm, but you, Sasuke…I never…"

I feel a frown coming on. "I don't need your pity, Naruto. I'm perfectly fine with just one arm."

I shake his hand off my shoulder, and begin to snatch my right hand from his, but he pulls it back.

"It's not pity, Sasuke. It's…it's because I care."

I inhale sharply. Suddenly, I can't remember why I was angry anymore.

"I have always cared," he continues, "You could ask me to move heaven and earth for you, and I would, Sasuke. You know that."

 _Yes. He would._

"Why are you suddenly telling me all this?"

He shrugs. "I…I don't know if I want to marry Hinata, Sasuke."

My heart drops to my stomach. "What the fuck?"

He looks a little surprised at the bewilderment in my tone, but ploughs on anyway. "I dunno, Sasuke, I usually try not to dwell on these things, since, you know, what's the point? But…I know marriage is something big, something that's gonna stay with me forever, and…I don't know if it's Hinata."

My head is swimming with more than just alcohol.

"Naruto. Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"

He looks at me like the question hasn't registered. Considering how drunk he is – we _both_ are – I realize it probably hasn't.

"I mean," he continues, "yes, I really like her, and I can never thank her enough for always being there for me, but somehow…it's not the same."

My throat suddenly feels very dry. "Not the same as what?"

He looks down at his hand loosely holding mine. "I…don't know, Sasuke. Ever since the war ended, everyone's been going crazy over Hinata and me getting together, and when Hiyashi-san asked me to take care of her daughter, I felt like this was the way to go. This was what everyone wanted of me, and it wasn't such a bad idea at the time, so I just decided to get on with it. But…"

"Naruto."

He looks up at me, waiting for me to continue.

I realize that I don't know what to say, so I lightly run my thumb over his, committing the feel of his skin beneath the bandage to memory.

I remember lying beside him at the Valley of the End, wanting to take his hand so bad, but being unable to because…neither of us had them anymore. The blood from our lynched arms had flown together, mixing in a pool of crimson and pain and renewed promises and _belonging_.

"It's okay, though," he says, and I snap out of my thoughts to see a half-smile on his face. "It's not like I don't like her or anything. We'll be good, right, Sasuke?"

I don't say anything. I _cannot_ say anything. I sit still and continue caressing his hand with my thumb, too smashed to process what I'm actually doing.

He waits for a while before he realizes that I'm not going to answer.

"You're such a pain in the ass, teme," he says without malice.

The blatant affection in his voice makes my entire mouth go dry.

He smiles a genuine smile, one that reaches his eyes. "I used to hate your guts because Sakura liked you more than she liked me, remember?" His voice is tinged with nostalgia, and I can't help the smile that comes to my lips.

"Tch. Usuratonkachi."

His eyes go wide, and then his smile gets even bigger. I know he knows that I don't mean it spitefully either.

Over the years, I have grown so comfortable calling him by that nickname that it doesn't even sound negative anymore. It has lost all of its playful bite, and is now just something Naruto is.

He is just my usuratonkachi.

"Sasuke…" he begins, and then stops.

I feel my breath getting a little ragged. The way he says my name is…

I meet his gaze before slowly interlacing my fingers with his.

He doesn't cringe, he doesn't pull back. I can see his breath get a little uneven too, but he never leaves my gaze.

I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, but I'm too drunk to care.

He squeezes my hand in his, and I gulp audibly. My throat is burning, my hand is burning, my whole fucking body is –

"Sasuke, I just…"

We're both smashed beyond coherence. The room is spinning wildly, the only thing keeping me anchored the hand in mine and the knees now pressing into my thigh.

I don't know what the fuck he's doing either, but again, I'm too drunk to care.

"Naruto." His name is like a prayer.

He closes his eyes and slowly leans in until he drops his head on my shoulder, head nestled into the crook of my neck. His hair tickles my skin, brushing the side of my cheek. I can feel his ragged breaths hitting my collarbone, and I struggle to control my own breathing.

"Sasuke…" he breathes into my skin, squeezing my hand tightly.

I let my eyes fall shut as I bury my face into his hair. He smells of freshly mown grass, and I decide it's my new favorite smell.

I feel him withdrawing his hand from mine, and I ache at the loss of contact until he places his arm at the small of my back, and runs it up slowly, tantalizingly, till he reaches the nape of my neck, where he twines his fingers in my hair.

I am almost panting at this point. And, I realize, achingly hard.

I need more contact. I need _him_.

I wrap my arm around him, sharply tugging him towards me so we're now almost chest to chest.

"Sasuke."

"Hn," I manage, breath so ragged I can't get any more words out.

"Not the same as this," he says, voice throaty, the barest hint of pain and _regret_ lining it.

It takes me a while to realize what he means, but then it hits me. Hard.

" _Yes, I really like her, and I can never thank her enough for always being there for me, but somehow…it's not the same."_

" _Not the same as what?"_

I draw in a very loud, ragged breath as I pull him even closer, and press my face hard against his.

He retaliates by cupping my head with his hand, fingers tugging possessively at my hair.

I bite down hard on my lower lip to quell the tears threatening to rise to the surface.

 _Not mine. Not mine._

I'm the closest I've ever been to Naruto, but my mask is cracking. And for the first time in my life, I realize I don't know how to rebuild it.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:**_ Okay guys sorry for the late update, but there've been a lot of things going on in life lately, and not all good *sigh*. But anyway, here's the next chapter, and with this I'm bumping the rating up to an M. Enjoy! ^^

* * *

I have been called selfish plenty of times in my life. And for once, as Naruto cards his fingers through my hair, I really feel like living up to that moniker. I feel like grabbing his face and smashing my mouth against his. I feel like slipping my hands under his shirt and feeling bare skin under my fingers. I don't want to care about the fact that he will be married to someone else in less than a month's time. I don't want to care about the fact that he will most probably regret all of this when he wakes up the next morning. And I certainly don't want to care about how much this would feel like taking advantage of him when he is so low _and_ drunk.

But I do care.

How could I not?

So I sit there in silence, trying to get a grip over my breathing when I feel Naruto raise his head a bit, lips touching lightly against my neck. I draw in a sharp breath and close my eyes shut, drowning myself in _sensation_.

For a while he does nothing, and I'm beginning to wonder if I should open my eyes when I feel his lips moving against my skin.

"Why, Sasuke?"

My eyes snap open. I draw my brows together, not comprehending the question. What is he asking?

He slowly lifts his head and looks me straight in the eyes. His face is very close to mine, and I can smell the alcohol in his breath hitting my face.

He still has his hands in my hair, and he tugs my head closer so our foreheads are now touching.

"Why?" he asks, as he leans further forward, so our noses are now touching too.

"Why…what?" I can hardly recognize my own voice.

"You left. You fucking left, Sasuke."

"Naruto, I – "

He doesn't give me a chance to complete my sentence as he quickly moves in, closing the distance between our faces and crushing his lips against mine.

I fist the fabric of his shirt in my hand as I give in to his fingers twined in my hair, his lips moving against mine – as I give in to _him_.

This is not the first time I have kissed Naruto. Of course, the other times were accidents, but I still haven't forgotten what he tasted like. Miso and lemons and spearmint toothpaste.

He still tastes the same.

His mouth is demanding, and it is all I can do to not let a strangled whimper escape me as his tongue finds mine, and we engage in a brief battle of one-upmanship because even drunk, we're still _us_.

I have kissed Naruto twice before, but never like this. The kiss is fervent and needy and demanding and our teeth keep clashing in our eagerness to _touch_ , but neither of us care. Our breaths mingle together, warm and laced with alcohol.

I hear a faint voice in the back of my head telling me I need to stop, but it is swiftly drowned out by the sound of blood rushing to my ears as Naruto slips a hand in beneath my t-shirt. His fingers are as demanding as his tongue as they roam all over my torso, and I bite down hard on his lip when I feel him brush a light finger against a nipple.

"Teme!" He breaks the kiss, and I see a sheen of red on his lower lip, which he licks off with his tongue. The sheer knowledge that I did that to him breaks something inside me, and I pull him on top of me.

He is busy wiping away at the blood from his lip, so the pull catches him off guard, and he falls right on top of me, and something _hard_ presses against my thigh.

"Sasuke, teme – " he growls before dipping down and sinking his teeth into my neck.

This time, I cannot help but let out a strangled moan. I have _never_ been touched like this before.

As a child, before my entire family was killed, I got my fair share of playful touching – hugs from my parents, lots of hair ruffles and forehead pokes from Itachi, and the occasional shoulder pat from my teachers at the Academy. After the incident that changed my life, I realized that I didn't really like people getting close to me anymore, and before I knew it, I had built a personal space bubble of my own beyond which no one – not one single soul – was allowed.

Growing up, I did succumb to the occasional physical need, but never from another person. The path that I had been on had left very little of either need or desire of the sexual kind from anyone else. I could take care of that – whenever I did feel like I needed to release some pent-up energy – on my own. The bottom line was, I didn't touch others, and no one touched me.

But, I think wryly, Naruto has never been a stickler for rules anyway.

He keeps nipping at the skin on my neck, and I realize I am panting. Needing to do something, to _touch,_ I let my hand slip in under his t-shirt, fingers running over the superiorly chiseled plane of his back. Feeling my ministrations on his skin, Naruto bites down viciously on my neck, and I retaliate by digging my nails into his skin.

I know both will leave marks.

I am suddenly filled with the insane urge to mark him all over, so I push him off me and into a sitting position where he is straddling me, and try to yank his t-shirt over his head.

"Is Uchiha Sasuke getting impatient?" he says, grinning as he pulls his t-shirt off in one smooth move.

I want to wipe the smirk off his face with my lips, and with full intention of doing so pull him once again towards me, but he is prepared this time.

He resists the pull, and keeps sitting on me, looking at me expectantly.

"What – " I bite out.

"You're slow when you're drunk," he says, and I suddenly find my own t-shirt yanked off over my head. _Then_ he pounces on me.

His mouth smashes into mine, and I kiss him back hungrily, taking his bottom lip into mine and chewing on it. I taste a faint coppery twang, and as it hits me once again that _I_ did that, I suddenly feel breathless, so I tug at his hair and push his face off mine.

As I swallow great lungfuls of air, I realize that Naruto has taken the action of me pushing his head off to mean that he should put his mouth to better use, and is now on a southward trail, leaving sloppy kisses down my neck.

I dig my nails into the skin on his shoulder as he takes a nipple into his mouth. I arch up into him, and he grinds down so our erections are touching.

I let out a moan as I dig my nails harder into his skin, blown over by the sheer eroticism of the act. Jerking off by myself has never felt as good as this, and I realize he hasn't even touched me yet.

"Naruto – " I don't know what I want to say next, so I decide panting his name out should do. As he sucks on my nipples, alternating between both, I breathe his name out twice more in between moans.

Naruto slowly lifts his head from my chest, and looks me straight in the eyes.

"Sasuke," his voice is a husky growl, and I suddenly feel like if he says my name like that one more time, I might come right then and there. "You don't know what you do to me."

I can't stop the warmth that floods all over my body, pooling in my groin. I need him. I need him to touch me.

"Naruto, _fuck_ – "

He gives me no warning as he suddenly puts his hand down my pants and takes my length in his hand.

I draw in a sharp breath as I shut my eyes and throw my head back. The sensory overload is too much, and I feel like I will pass out from the exoticism of it all.

"Sasuke – "

His commanding tone forces me to snap my eyes open, and I can see him looking at me. I realize he is waiting for permission, and I give a quick nod – or what I can manage of a nod – before closing my eyes again as he begins pumping me.

Naruto. Naruto. Naruto.

I don't know if his name is in my head, or on my lips, but I keep repeating it over and over like a prayer.

My hand has stilled on his back, and I suddenly feel the need to know what he feels like in my hand too, so I bring my arm down from his back, and feeling a little emboldened, I push his pants down and cup an ass cheek in my hand, squeezing down on it.

Naruto lets out a half-bitten moan as his rhythm on my cock slows down a bit. For a brief second I curse myself for having just one arm as I snake my fingers down from his ass to wrap them around his hardness.

"Teme!"

He buries his face into the crook of neck, and I take that as permission to carry on, so I start pumping him. He bites down on my skin as I brush a thumb over the tip of his cock, feeling a little pre-cum adorn my fingers.

We fall into a haphazard rhythm as we pump each other, and I cannot help but drown myself in the knowledge that I am touching Naruto, and he is touching me. All these years of love and lust and _longing_ …

I have never been one to wear my heart on my sleeve, and for all my life, whatever emotions I have felt have been entirely mine. I have never shared anything with anyone – save Naruto, a couple times – and I have always felt secure with all my walls up around me. Letting someone get close to me – physically or emotionally – has always meant making myself vulnerable, and I have never allowed myself a weakness in my whole life.

Until now.

I had never realized how blissful touching someone and being touched in return could feel, until now.

No, not someone. _Naruto_.

"Sasuke, I – "

His voice is hoarse, and he moans my name out in between ragged breaths, and I know I won't last much longer.

Apparently, Naruto is in the same place as I am, and as I slide a finger down the base of his cock and another one over the tip, I can feel him stiffen.

He growls out my name into my shoulder and arches up as his orgasm hits him and he spurts white ribbons over my hand and my stomach.

His rhythm on my length slows down a bit, but that doesn't matter as his voice growling out my name, and the sight of his cum all over my skin drives me over the edge too, and I bite down on his shoulder as I ride my orgasm, letting the waves wash over me till they hit a crescendo before finally beginning to recede.

For a while, we do nothing but lie there entangled, breathing hard, our stomachs and chests dirty with a mixture of our seeds.

As we lay there silent, I cannot help but feel myself drowning in the afterglow of what we have done. For someone like me who practically punches people for accidentally bumping shoulders against me, getting jerked off by another person is a very strange and unfamiliar feeling. I let myself go back to how Naruto's fingers felt around my hardness, and I feel my breath hitch again.

I have never in my life done something as erotic as this before, and for once, I find that I don't entirely hate being touched by someone.

 _Not someone_ , I correct myself again. _Naruto._

A mumble against my neck draws me out of my reverie.

"What, usuratonkachi," I say.

Naruto lifts his head and looks at me sideways. "Um, bathroom?"

I roll my eyes. "You know where it is. You followed me to it earlier."

He nods, and then begins to lift himself off me. As he stands up and adjusts his pants, I feel myself frowning at the loss of warmth.

His t-shirt is lying in a heap along with mine at the foot of the couch, but he makes no move to pick it up, instead stepping over it as he moves out of the room.

I watch his back as he leaves, and then let my eyes fall shut. The room is no longer spinning, but I am still too drunk, and the engulfing darkness as I close my eyes is comforting. I realize I am sticky and need to clean myself up too, but then I remember that Naruto is in the bathroom. Figuring I'll just do it later – _what's the big deal, it's just cum anyway_ – I turn over to the side and make myself comfortable.

 _Only till the dobe comes back from the bathroom_ , I think, as I give in to the sinking feeling of sleep taking me over.

The sound of the doorbell wakes me up.

More out of trained reflexes than any real sense of urgency, I quickly stand up. A wave of dizziness sweeps over me and I sit back down on the couch, holding my head in my hands. I have a splitting headache, and –

 _Where is Naruto?_

I chide myself at having forgotten about him. I take a glance around, but he is nowhere to be seen. I remember him going to the bathroom, and me waiting for him to come back and wake me up.

I glance over at the clock on the wall, and suddenly feel like someone has dumped a bucket of ice over my head. It's three thirty in the morning, and Naruto is gone.

The doorbell rings again, and I let out a curse under my breath as I stand up gingerly and walk towards it.

I wonder if it might be possible that Naruto has passed out on my bed, and I feel a sense of relief at the possibility as I yank the door open, intending to check the bedroom as soon as whoever it is at the door has gone.

The faces of a troubled Sakura and an extremely worried Hinata greet me.

"What – " I begin, wondering if I'm still asleep and dreaming for _Hinata_ of all people to show up at my doorstep, but Sakura cuts me off.

"D'you know where Naruto is?"

All my drowsiness leaves me, and I stand up straight. "No, I don't," I say in as unaffected a drawl as I can muster. "What is this about?"

This time Hinata speaks up. "Naruto-kun is gone."

I have always disliked Hinata's voice, and more so the way she turns into an inarticulate mess in front of Naruto, but this time the last thing I think of is her voice.

"What do you mean, gone?" I try to keep the shock out of my voice. For all I know, he could be sleeping in my bedroom, and his fiancé just doesn't know.

I wince at the word fiancé as memories from a few hours before flood into my brain.

"He stuck a note outside my window. With a kunai. Saying he needed to clear his head a bit, and would be back as soon as he could," Hinata says.

 _No, he is still here. He is still here._

"When was this?" I ask.

"Fifteen minutes back."

I feel like someone has dunked my head in ice-cold water.

"Have you told the Hokage?" I ask, wanting nothing more to do than shut the door in their faces and go check my bedroom.

 _They don't even know what they're talking about. He's here with me._

"Yes, we've notified Kakashi Sensei, and a few others are out looking for him as well," Sakura says. "We'd hoped he would be here, but…"

I shrug. "Knowing him, he'll probably be back by morning, and this will have been nothing more than a prank. You know how he is."

I will myself to believe the words I am saying, but images of Naruto and me jerking each other off dance in front of my eyes, and I suddenly wish I was still drunk enough to believe the nonsense I am spouting.

"You won't look for him, Sasuke-kun?"

The question throws me off guard. "Yes, I'll see what I can do," I tell Hinata. "But as I said, it's probably nothing serious, and you might want to go home and wait for him to show up. Not going to be more than a few hours, that's for sure."

Hinata nods, and begins to turn around and walk away, but Sakura stands there, still looking at me.

"He's okay, isn't he?"

I realize I have no answer to that, so I manage a quick nod before I shut the door on her face.

I have never sprinted so fast to my bedroom as I do then. I don't know what I had expected to see, hoped to see, but the bed is empty.

The door to the bathroom is ajar, and the lights are still on.

Nothing in the room is out of place – nothing suggesting that a person slept in the bed, or was even in the room, save for…

A piece of paper near my feet catches my attention. Before I have even completely stooped down to pick it up, I know what it is.

It's their wedding card. It's Naruto's and Hinata's wedding invitation card.

It had arrived in the mail earlier that morning and I had left it on the bedside table, meaning to throw it away later.

I can see the pieces coming together in my head, like some little puzzle aligning itself.

Naruto had been on his way out from the bathroom, had stumbled against the table, knocking off the card in the process, had stooped to pick it up, and...

A wave of drowsiness washes over me and I sink down onto the bed.

 _Fuck._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** _Heh I know I am terribly late this time *sweats* but hopefully some of y'all are still here? This chapter isn't terribly long, and it's not smut either, but this progresses the story, so...read on?_

* * *

The first place I check is Naruto's house. Even as I search through his rooms, I know it is futile; he is not here. I can sense traces of leftover chakra, from which I can only assume that the others have been searching here before me. I know he is important to a lot of people, and he has a fiancé, for heaven's sake, but the mere thought of Hinata in Naruto's house – in his _bed_ – makes my skin crawl.

Knowing I will not find anything here, I make my move. Instinctively, I know where he is – or at least I think I do. The one place that holds more meaning for the both of us than any other place in the whole of Konoha – heck, the whole of the Five Nations, in itself.

I have a splitting headache, and along the way, the heavens decide to open up and pour down, and _this_ , a corner of my sleep-addled brain thinks, _must be retribution for laying claim on something that was never mine in the first place._

A bolt of lightning cracks open the sky, and I can't help but wonder. _Wasn't he?_

"Sasuke-kun!"

I whip my head around only to be greeted by a mop of soaking pink hair leaping to catch up with me. Before I have even realized it, a frown creeps up my face.

"Sakura, go back!" Even as the words leave my mouth, I know that regardless of whatever I say, she will be sticking by my side – she has always been stubborn like this.

"I know where you're going," she says, now easily keeping pace with me. "I had the same thought in mind, and that's the only place we didn't check."

" _We_?" I repeat. "Is Hinata following you?"

If she notices the way I spit out the name Hinata, she doesn't comment on it. "No," she says. "I asked her to get home and wait for Naruto in case he decides to go back. It's just me here."

I purse my lips, putting in a little more chakra into my leaps.

"Do you think he will be there?"

It is raining down hard now, and the thunder is incessant. As I ignore her question, I find myself wondering what will happen if I actually find him there. Everything that seemed so simple in the drunken haze of the evening feels like a catastrophic mess now, and I wonder if he will apologize for what happened between us, and I will just relapse to avoiding him again, pretending that nothing ever happened.

"Sasuke-kun."

I gather my scattered thoughts as the valley looms up in the distance. For a split second, the realization strikes me that he might not even be here, but it goes away as soon as it comes. Something tells me he _is_ here.

As we come to a halt, the aura of Naruto's chakra envelops me, and for a few brief seconds, I stand rooted to the spot as images from the night before flash before my eyes – sloppy kissing, heated moans, skin on skin.

I shake my head and glance sideways at Sakura to see if she has noticed the chakra. Judging from the look on her face, I know she has.

"He's here," she says, putting my own thoughts into words.

I nod briefly as I look straight ahead. It takes me all of three seconds to spot him.

As I take the leap, Sakura at my side, I see him suddenly sit up straight.

 _So he's noticed._

As we land behind him, he swiftly stands up and turns around. There is surprise on his face.

"What – "

"If we were enemies, you'd have been dead by now," I cut him off, tone snappy.

He doesn't look at me, doesn't meet my eyes. Instead, he turns to Sakura and opens his mouth to speak, but she cuts him off too.

"Naruto," her voice is reprimanding, "You're too old for pranks like these. Hinata is worried sick, and why – "

She stops, and takes a step closer to Naruto, peering into his eyes. "Naruto why are your eyes – "

"Jeez, Sakura-chan," Naruto cuts her off his time. "You worry too much. I will go back in a few hours and talk to Hinata. It's okay, really. I just – " he pauses for a few seconds, and I think I am holding my breath. "I just…needed to clear a few things out. I didn't want to worry anyone. I'm sorry."

Sakura looks at me, but I have nothing to say. Naruto still hasn't looked at me once, and I have a bad feeling about where this could go.

The rain is still pouring down in sheets, and here in the open, the wind is howling around us.

"Go home, Sakura," Naruto says. "You can tell Hinata I'll be back soon and that she shouldn't worry. I'm fine."

Sakura looks conflicted. "Naruto. It's been long enough, let's just get back now – "

"Sakura," the way he says her name shuts her up. "Please go home."

I release a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"Sakura," I say. "Go home and tell Hinata that Naruto's okay."

Then Naruto looks at me. "Sasuke. You too."

In spite of the fury raging around us, the silence that follows his statement is deafening.

I am still a bit hungover, pissed at having been woken up in the middle of the night, and the headache is not helping.

"No." My voice is cold steel, and I can see Sakura look at me with an astonished expression.

"Sakura," I say, not breaking eye contact with Naruto, who is now frowning. "Go home. Hinata must be worried. Tell her where her fiancé is. Go on. Naruto and I have something to settle."

I can see Naruto wince slightly as I say the name Hinata and the word fiancé while looking straight at his eyes, and I cannot help but feel a sudden urge to crush his lips with mine and _rip_ that name and that word right out from his life.

Sakura apparently senses that whatever is going on right now cannot be solved in her presence.

"Naruto, get home, soon okay? I'll tell Hinata you're okay and safe and will be back in a couple hours," she says.

Naruto finally breaks eye contact and looks at her, nodding.

"Okay then," Sakura says. "See you soon, Naruto. Sasuke-kun."

As she turns around to leave, she casts a sideways glance at Naruto. "Tsunade-sama is not going to make another arm for you, okay?"

Both Naruto and I stare at her retreating form until she completely vanishes from sight. Then Naruto turns away from me and sits back down.

I stand for a few seconds, pondering on how ridiculous the whole situation is, before I go and join him.

"Why are you here, Sasuke?" he asks as I sit down beside him.

"Tch. You know why, Naruto."

He doesn't reply further, and we sit there in silence for what seems like eternity, before I finally decide to break the silence.

"Naruto, we – "

"I don't regret what happened, Sasuke."

I whip my head around to face him, opening my mouth to speak, but he beats me to it.

"Sasuke, I – " He turns to look at me too. "Is it okay if I talk to you about this? Because – "

"Shut up and continue, dobe."

He smiles a little, and I suddenly feel like there's a vice grip around me, and I bring my hand to clutch at the fabric near my chest because suddenly this feels like _too much._

"You already know how I feel about you, Sasuke," Naruto says. "Ever since we were small, I have said it to you over and over again – in a hundred different ways. When you decided to leave for Orochimaru's place, it almost felt like losing everything all over again. I knew I'd have Sakura-chan and Kakashi Sensei and Iruka Sensei and the others, but with you gone…"

He stops and seems to think about something for a bit, before continuing.

"Sasuke, ever since you left," he turns his face away and looks at the waterfall in the distance. "There hasn't been one day that I haven't thought about you."

I let out a shaky breath, thankful for the gale masking the sound.

"I never asked you this, but – " he looks at me again. "Did you think of me too? Even once?"

I feel my breath hitch. I don't know what to say. I want to say _yes, I always thought of how much you were probably progressing and that I had to get powerful too because deep down,_ _ **I**_ _was the one who wanted you to acknowledge me._ I want to say _yes, there were nights where I lay beneath the stars and thought of the times we'd slept together beneath the starry sky when we were young_. I want to say _yes, whenever someone – anyone – spoke of destroying you, I felt this inexplicable rage to punch them into the ground because only_ _ **I**_ _had the right to do anything to you._

"It's okay," he says after I've been silent for a long time. "You don't have to ans – "

'Yes," I say, and the tone surprises him. I find the conviction in my voice surprising myself, but then the words tumble out ungraciously from my mouth. "I did think of you, Naruto. Regardless of where I was, you were always at the back of my mind."

I feel a wave of self-consciousness wash over me as I end the sentence. I have never been very good with emotions and feelings, least of all _talking_ about them – and this is no exception.

Naruto shifts a little closer to me. His shoulder touches mine, and more out of habit than anything else, I flinch at the contact.

My reaction catches him off-guard, and he begins to mumble an "eh, sorry" as he makes an attempt to move back away, and I suddenly find myself putting my arm around his shoulder and pulling him back towards me.

The pull is rough, so Naruto is now flush by my side, soaking clothes pressing against each other's.

Naruto turns his face to look at me, and as I do the same, I realize that if I just moved my face a little farther in, I'd be able to touch my lips to his. But with the drunken haze of the evening no longer lingering over us, I quickly turn my face away before I end up doing something reckless.

"I don't think I'm going to marry Hinata, Sasuke."

"What?" His statement jolts me out of my thoughts.

Naruto slowly leans his head down on my shoulder. "Just what I said. I don't…it's not her, Sasuke."

"Naruto, if is this is about today – "

"No, Sasuke," the conviction in his voice surprises me. "It's not just about today. I never felt for her the way I felt for you, Sasuke. For a long time, I spent every day of my life waiting for you to come back home. I spent an even longer time actually trying to get you back home. We even…our arms – Sasuke – "

His voice breaks with emotion, and I dig my nails into his shoulder, pulling him even closer to me.

"I have never – " his voice is thick, raw. "I have never felt like doing so much for anyone else. I have never _felt_ this way for anyone else. I knew all along what it was, Sasuke, I just didn't think you would – "

He stops, turning his face to bury it into the crook of my neck.

I sit there as I feel an upheaval of emotions – goddamn _emotions_ – course through every fibre of my being.

I cannot find the words I want to say, so I card my fingers through his soaked hair, and cup his head in the palm of my hand. I bring my face down and press my lips to the top of his head.

I have never felt like this in my whole life – this exposed, this vulnerable, this _warm_.

I know we're not done talking yet, and I know nothing has been resolved either, but for now, with Naruto pressed up against me and his face buried in my neck and my lips in his hair, I feel like I am willing to just let things be. If at least, for a little while.

My mask has cracked open and is lying at my feet, the shattered pieces slowly being swept away by the rain.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** _Okay, so this chapter is mainly smut! I wanted to make some progress with the storyline, and I started out completely intending to do that, but then somehow this turned into shameless smut, so xD_  
 _Hope y'all enjoy! ^^_

* * *

I don't know how long has passed since Naruto and I have been sitting wrapped around each other in the pouring rain, but something tells me dawn should be arriving any moment. A part of me doesn't want to let the moment go – it seems so ephemeral, so _surreal_.

The Valley of the End. Once again. _How fucking ironical._

"Naruto," I say, lifting my head. He doesn't reply, doesn't even acknowledge that he's heard me.

"Oi, dobe."

"Nnggh, what," Naruto grunts into my neck, and I feel chills go down my spine that have nothing to do with how cold I am.

"Seriously? You were sleep – "

"Let's run away, Sasuke," he says, cutting me off.

The absurdity of such a statement coming from Naruto stuns me, and I grab his shoulder and pull him up with a rough shake. "The fuck? Are you still dreaming?"

His eyes are rimmed red around the edges and I wonder if it's from the drinking or the lack of sleep.

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to…get out of this mess, Sasuke. I fucked so many things up, and I don't know how to set things right. I don't even know if it will be possible to set things right. I just – "

He breaks off and sighs, and after waiting for a few seconds I realize he's not going to complete his sentence.

"Naruto," I say, beginning to stand up. "Let's go home, okay?"

He doesn't make an attempt to get up, and shakes his head instead. "You go on, Sasuke. I think I'll stay for a while here."

"Everyone knows where 'here' is now, thanks to Sakura."

"Then somewhere else. Look, just – go, okay? I'll…think of something to do."

I roll my eyes, and yank him up by his collar.

"I don't like repeating myself, Naruto. Let's go home."

"No, Sasuke. Hinata will be – "

" _My_ home."

The shock on his face is enough to make me contemplate what I have just said. I don't know what I am going to do, I don't know what good will come of taking him to my place, I don't know how Naruto will deal with Hinata – if he chooses to deal with it at all. I just know that I want to protect him. It's like this primitive, feral urge coiling deep inside me, and the intensity of this extremely unfamiliar feeling shocks me to the very core.

"Sasuke, what – _your_ home?"

I shrug. "Unless you'd rather be somewhere else."

He winces at that. "You know I have to – "

"Just till the morning, then," I say. The very thought of Naruto going back to Hinata, who will undoubtedly be a sobbing, hysterical mess by now, disgusts me.

Naruto stands there for a while, saying nothing.

The rain has slowed down to a drizzle by now, but the thunder and lightning is relentless.

I walk up to him, intending to grab him by the collar and make him follow suit, but as I watch him standing there, looking at me, I am suddenly seized with an intense urge to _pounce_ on him and pin him to the ground with my body.

The sudden imagery is alarming, and I come to a halt.

Naruto walks the rest of the way till he's in front of me, and stops.

I stay rooted to the spot, eyes not leaving his face. I watch as the raindrops travel down the sides of his face and down his neck, past his collarbones, where they disappear underneath the fabric of his t-shirt. I let my eyes wander down his body, taking in the way his soaking clothes press against his skin.

"Sasuke."

The raw edge to his voice makes me tear my eyes away from his body and look up at him. I realize my breathing is a little ragged, and I swallow visibly as I am suddenly reminded of how _beautiful_ he looked pressed up against my body, _touching_ me.

Naruto takes a step closer to me, and then another, till he's right in front of me, our noses almost touching.

I want to kiss him.

"I want you to know something," he says, voice low and raw. "It's always been you, Sasuke."

Then _he_ leans in kisses _me_.

This kiss is nothing like the one we shared a few hours before. It has none of that rough, wild edge to it. This is soft, gentle. It feels a little uncharacteristic of him, but I can read what he's saying. It's devotion. It's comfort. It's love. It's a _promise_.

As Naruto's mouth moves against mine, he brings both his hands up and cups my face, thumbs caressing my cheek. I wrap my arm around his back, slipping my hand underneath his t-shirt and running my fingers up his spine as I pull him closer till there is no space left between us, and I can feel his heartbeat against my chest.

I can feel Naruto smile into the kiss, and I think, _that idiot_ , as a smile creeps up my own face as well.

A nagging voice at the back of my head tells me things could go more productively if we just went home, and as I suppress that voice, the rational part of me knows that standing here in the open kissing Naruto could have dire consequences, and while I don't really care about what anyone thinks, I know he does.

"Naruto," I mumble against his lips as I break the kiss.

We're both breathing very roughly by now, and I rest my forehead against his.

"Teme, what – "

"Home."

Naruto removes his hands from my face and stands up straight. He doesn't say anything, instead choosing to look down at his feet.

I remove my hand from his back, and place it under his chin, forcing him to look up at me.

"Come with me, Naruto. We'll figure something out, okay?"

The uncertainty in his eyes is a harsh reminder that it's not just the two of us in our own world – there are other people he is responsible for, too.

"Sasuke," he says, bringing a hand up and taking my hand in his, lacing his fingers with mine.

I feel pinpricks down my back.

"Sasuke, I told you I don't want to marry Hinata, but – " he drops my hand and rubs his own hand tiredly over his face. "It's just – there's too much to – "

I don't want to know what's at the end of that sentence, so I lean in and press my lips to his briefly before drawing away.

"Naruto, come home with me."

Naruto looks a little dazed, but he finally nods.

"Okay," he says, and then as an afterthought, adds, "It's cold out here, anyway."

I roll my eyes as I turn around and begin walking, Naruto following me.

* * *

We're home in a record amount of time, considering we're a deadly combination of hungover and sleepy and horny. It's also sheer luck that we haven't run into anyone else on the way back.

No sooner have I locked the door behind me than Naruto tackles me to the ground and crushes my mouth with his.

And there it is again. That raw heat, that untamed desire.

This, I know well by now. This I can do.

I let out a grunt as I swiftly flip him over, so now he's on the floor beneath me. There is surprise on his face – he probably wasn't expecting me to be capable of switching positions this easily, _one-handedly_.

"Usuratonkachi," I breathe out against his lips before capturing them in mine. Naruto opens his mouth with a low moan that he doesn't even try to hold back, and I slip my tongue inside his mouth.

Considering that I have hardly ever kissed anyone before – Karin's brushed her lips very briefly against mine a couple number of times, but that barely counts as kissing in my book – the feeling of having my tongue inside someone else's mouth is a very strange feeling. Earlier this evening, I was too drunk to even realize what I was doing, but now, oh god, _now_ is an explosion of shivers down my spine.

Naruto's mouth is warm, and I slide my tongue against his bottom lip as he lets out another moan and slips his own tongue inside my mouth. I groan into the kiss as Naruto's tongue roams at will, almost as if his sole intention is to _ravage_ me.

I have never been this turned on in my life.

"Sasuke," Naruto pants out.

"Nnghh." All coherence has left me.

"Clothes," he manages to gasp, and only then it strikes me that we're both fully clothed. Wet, yes, but clothed.

I move away from Naruto's face and sit up a bit, beginning to take off my t-shirt, when I feel a hand on my wrist.

I look at him questioningly.

"Let me do it."

I let out what is a mix of a _very_ ragged breath and a low moan that I make no attempt to bite back. His voice is low, and raw, and fucking demanding.

I nod once, and Naruto sits up, so now I'm basically on his lap, straddling him.

He brings up a hand and wraps it around my back, pulling me even closer to him. Then he leans forward and places a very wet kiss on my neck. I let my hand trail up his face and settle in his hair, wet blonde locks wrapped around my fingers.

He feathers kisses on my neck before moving down to my collarbone and pulling my t-shirt to the side, then dipping down to noisily kiss the bit of skin he just exposed.

The whole thing is erotic beyond measure.

He tugs on the hem of the t-shirt and begins to pull it up, and I lift my arm to make it easier for him.

As soon as my t-shirt is off, Naruto unwraps his hand from my back and runs his fingers over my entire torso, before he dips down and takes a nipple in his mouth.

I let out a _very_ undignified noise that I never thought I would be caught dead making, least of all in front of Naruto.

Naruto lifts his other hand and uses it to take the other nipple between his fingers, which he keeps rubbing between his thumb and his index finger, while he makes little swirls around my other nipple with his tongue.

I am painfully hard, and as Naruto slowly leans me down to the floor so he is once again over me, I do not resist at all. At that point, it is all I can do to not beg Naruto to take me in his fist and pump me dry.

So I lie there, panting, as Naruto trails kisses all over my chest and stomach, each kiss wetter than the previous one, till I feel as wet from his saliva as I was from the rain before.

Naruto is almost down to the waistband of my pants by now, face level with the very obvious tent in it. He lightly trails a finger over my erection, over my pants, and I breathe in very sharply.

"Fuck," I say, because all other words have left me. I want to lift my head a bit and see what his face looks like, but my eyes are shut very tightly from the extreme sensory overload.

Naruto pulls my pants down a bit, and skims his fingers over the coarse hair leading down into my pants, and I let out another ragged moan.

Then he pulls my pants along with my boxers down in one swift motion, freeing my erection, which springs up in front of him.

"Fuck, Sasuke," he manages to pant out, before leaning down and taking me in his mouth.

The feeling of Naruto's mouth on my dick cannot compare to anything I have felt before, and I squeeze my eyes shut so tightly I can see white spots in my vision. His mouth is warm, and wet, and fucking _perfect_.

I have never given, nor received a blowjob before, so I have nothing against which I can compare what Naruto is doing right now, but whatever he is doing, it feels wonderful.

Then he hums around my dick, a low, guttural noise that vibrates around my entire length, and I cannot help but helplessly thrust up into his mouth. My fingers reach for his hair, and suddenly I can feel Naruto increasing his pace. He bobs up and down on my dick, and I keep thrusting back.

He cups my balls with his hand and gently squeezes them, and I think I see stars, even with my eyes closed.

"Nngh – Naruto – "

I want to tell him how good what he is doing feels, but I find I cannot form proper words anymore, so I choose to pant out his name in between breaths instead.

Naruto's fingers are dangerously close to my entrance, and I don't know if I want him to move his fingers away, or fuck me with them.

Apparently, he chooses the latter, and as he lightly rubs a finger around my hole, my eyes fly open with the need to look at him.

I lift my head a bit, and the sight that meets my eyes nearly sends me over the edge then and there. Naruto, with my dick in his mouth, looks straight into my eyes, and I slam my head back into the ground as I realize I cannot hold back any longer.

I yank Naruto's head back so I don't shoot my seed straight into his mouth, and then Naruto's name is on my mouth as my orgasm hits me, and I squirt ribbons of white all over my stomach and into Naruto's hands.

As my breathing finally slows down a little, I open my eyes to see Naruto crawl up to lie beside me. There are streaks of white all over his cheeks and chin, and all the blood in my body rushes to my cheeks as I realize that is _my_ cum on _his_ face.

"C'mere," I say, as I pull him closer to me, so his face is right in front of me. Then I stick my tongue out and begin to lick my seed off from his face.

I don't know what makes me do something like that, and I can tell Naruto is a lot more startled by the action than I am.

"Sasuke, you don't – "

I shut him up by running my tongue over his mouth.

The entire act of wiping my own cum off Naruto's face is more erotic than I ever imagined it could be, and I think I am beginning to get hard again, if that is even possible.

Red dusts Naruto's cheeks, and I realize that not only is he fully clothed, I haven't even touched him yet.

I suddenly remember how Naruto's fingers rubbing against my asshole felt like, and before I know it, the words are out, low and gravelly against his lips.

"Naruto. Fuck me."


End file.
